What are your thoughts on people who say hate speech is free speech?

Free speech isn't about a list of allowed words from which you can remove ones you dislike. It's the ability to speak your mind freely.

Hate speech is very much part of free speech. As is defamation. Banning them is limiting free speech. It's just that civilized countries determined that's justified and morally right in some cases and decided to define some red lines. But that doesn't remove hate speech from the umbrella of free speech.